


Caring for the Family

by Polska_1999



Series: Come Home Safe [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Iron Man 1, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, Tony is Missing in Afghanistan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 10:30:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15022673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polska_1999/pseuds/Polska_1999
Summary: When she first ended up driving out to Tony's Malibu mansion, her visit was purposeless at first. This time, visiting after the Las Vegas fiasco, she was better prepared and more purposeful with her visit.Turns out, you can't predict everything, especially when it comes to Tony Stark and his house.





	Caring for the Family

**Author's Note:**

> This story builds off of the previous pieces in the series. It is recommended you read those first before reading this one.

Two days after the trainwreck of a press conference, she visited once more.

She didn’t know what possessed her to return to the Malibu house. She knew JARVIS was fine and would keep the place running until Tony returned. (If Tony returned.) Dum-E and U apparently had no interests in breaking anything in the lab, either, so damage control wasn’t necessary. If a fire broke out, then JARVIS’s automatic sprinkler system would put it out immediately, assuming Dum-E and his favorite fire extinguisher didn’t get to it first. There was no perishable food in the house, either, seeing that Tony rarely cooked for himself and the leftovers had been cleaned out when Obadiah visited, according to JARVIS. 

This time, Pepper was a bit more ready to accept that her visit would not last five minutes like she had planned for the previous one to last. Instead, she showed up like the well-prepared woman she usually was, with a duffel bag containing make-up, pajamas, and spare clothes stashed in the back seat of her car. Once more, she came alone, deciding that it was best to not bother Happy. He had already helped her so much in Las Vegas; she couldn’t ask him to do more for her now.

This time, she hadn’t cried on her way to Tony’s Malibu home, even if she did have to blink away tears from time to time as she drove there. 

The front door’s lock clicked open as she approached the house, and Pepper recognized the motion as the residential AI’s welcome. She opened the door, entering the house, unencumbered for she left most of her stuff in the car for now. “Hello JARVIS,” she called out, trying to keep her voice even. 

_ “Hello, Miss Potts, _ ” the AI greeted cordially. (She stopped attempting to figure out if the AI could experience and display emotion or not some time after her last visit. The topic only gave her headaches at times, not to mention that she felt sick to the stomach upon the consideration that a sentient being was cruelly left behind to watch over a ghost house, not allowed to use its — his? — skills to help find Tony, even though it — he? — could probably do more than all of the government’s systems combined.)

“Have there been any changes since my last visit?” She asked, secretly hoping for a negative answer, that everything was still just the way Tony left it, waiting for the boss to come home. 

_ “There have been no other people on the premises since your last visit, Miss Potts, _ ” the AI confirmed.  _ “However, Dum-E has been restless in the lab over the past few hours. _ ”

“What happened?” Pepper asked, a bit worried. Had something happened in the lab? That was Tony’s sanctuary; she couldn’t let that get damaged. 

_ “He attempted to make a smoothie but forgot to put the top on the blender. He has spent the last two hours cleaning the resulting mess, _ ” JARVIS reported.

“Why was he making a smoothie when-” Pepper began asking, but stopped herself short, unable to finish the question. Unfortunately, the question still registered with JARVIS a prompted an answer.

_ “Sir asks Dum-E to help him make a smoothie every day at precisely 14:30, as per your instructions to get at least one meal or meal supplement a day whenever he’s in his inventing zone, _ ” JARVIS said.  _ “It seems that Dum-E accidentally activated and forgot sir’s absence, beginning to work on the smoothie. _ ”

“Oh.” The answer to the question she hadn’t meant to ask was painful, really. It made sense; the robots were created by Tony and helped him out around the lab, after all. They probably weren’t programmed to know how to manage on their own, and in a way, maybe they missed Tony too as a result. Thinking about how the robots were probably alone in the lab for at least a week (since Tony disappeared a week ago, but it could have been longer) left her feeling a bit depressed. She then realized what she had to do.

Instead of crashing on the couch or something, she went downstairs to the lab. JARVIS turned on the lights for her as she approached, and for that she was thankful. Although the path down still felt haunted, almost like entering an abandoned church or partaking in a forbidden sacrament, knowing that she was welcome here (at least by the standards of Tony’s AI butler) was a relief beyond words. 

Upon reaching the bottom of the steps, she placed her hand flat against the biometric sensor built into the glass wall separating her from the workshop. Her info appeared on the glass as the lab door unlocked. The lab looked… well, it looked the same as it always did whenever she showed up here, except with one glaring difference — a lack of Tony, a lack of everything that was him. Every other time she’d been in the lab, it had been usually to get Tony out of it for a press conference or whatever important event but sometimes it was a more simple matter, such as getting Tony to eat something. (Of course, using “simple” to describe it was a slight misnomer, for nothing was never simple with Tony Stark.) Today, there was no loud music blasting through the speakers. Today, there was no greeting in the form of a fire or small explosion. Today, there was no whiny billionaire complaining about how she was interrupting his work time despite himself having willingly given her access to the lab without her requesting it.

She knew Tony was different in the lab and in public, and not just in the “famous people act differently in private” way. Even when not on live TV, Tony was arrogant, conceited, brash, narcissistic, vain, egoistic idiot who slept with a different woman every night. However, in the lab — in Tony’s personal sanctuary — that wasn’t always true. Instead, visits to the lab provided her with a more intimate knowledge of Tony Stark’s personal life. It was only in the lab that she ever got to meet Tony the Inventor instead of Tony the Billionaire. It was only in the lab that she learned that Tony’s fortune was actually rather well-earned instead of being purely inheritance. It was only in the lab that she learned that Tony sought validation almost as much as he sought caffeine. It was only in the lab that she learned that her role wasn’t holding together the life of a man who didn’t care but rather the life of a man who had been broken by circumstances beyond his control.

If he returned from Afghanistan, then only in the lab would she have the chance of learning more about what happened to him.

Upon entering the lab, she was only given a warning in the form of a few beeps before Dum-E and U crowded around her. She took a step back in surprise, not having expected such a welcoming committee. U had clearly just activated, whereas Dum-E showed signs of the smoothie incident JARVIS described. Nonetheless, both bots were lively… at least, until they realized it wasn’t Tony who entered the lab. 

Pepper really needed to reevaluate her thoughts on if the AIs and bots had emotions or not. 

Upon realizing that it was Pepper who entered the lab, both bots backed off a bit. Dum-E hung his claw slightly, as if in shame, apology, or grieving, or perhaps a mix of all three. It immediately made Pepper feel guilty; perhaps she didn’t belong there. She only gave the bots false hope, assuming the bots were even capable of such a thing. (She was more and more convinced that they could, especially JARVIS.)

Then, both of the bots flocked around her once more, as if seeking her affection despite her not being Tony. Maybe they recognized her, or perhaps they were simply happy to have someone there in the lab besides themselves. Either way, Pepper found herself possessing no will to argue. She decided that spending some time with the bots wasn’t that bad. After all, there were Tony’s creations, too, and no matter how much Tony vehemently protested, the two bots helped him with his projects in their own ways, even if it was moral support while messing things up. 

And so, Pepper spent several hours in the lab. She cleaned up the surfaces a bit but didn’t touch anything she couldn’t identify. (She also disinfected the mess caused by Dum-E’s attempt at creating a smoothie.) After that, she spent some time with the bots. JARVIS was silent for most of the duration of her visit to the lab, but she felt his presence as he watched over them, dimming or brightening the lights or activating things in the lab without Pepper even needing to verbally say the command. It was hours later that Pepper noticed that the music was on in the lab, albeit much quieter than the ear-splitting volume Tony listened to. Overall, the lab felt like a home; in a way, Pepper partially understood why Tony spent so much time here.

By the time she left the sanctuary and headed upstairs, several hours passed. The sun was beginning its descent beyond the horizon, casting its distorted fierce reflection across the restless teal waves of the grand ocean. A day was ending, and a new one would soon begin. Pepper stopped at the windows for a moment to admire the view but didn’t linger long, turning to face the exit as her mind decided on her next course of action. She left the window’s picturesque view behind as she approached the front door.

_ “Preparing to depart, Miss Potts? _ ” JARVIS asked.

Pepper’s lips curled into a small but determined smile as she spoke cordially. “Actually, I was thinking of spending the night here; I just need to grab something from the car. Mind leaving the front door unlocked for me until I get back?”

_ “Of course, Miss Potts. The guest bedroom will be configured to your preferences by the time of your return as well. _ ”

With JARVIS’s response affirming her actions and leaving no space for her to back out, she strode to the car and gathered up her stuff from the trunk, thankful she decided to not bother Happy with this visit. The house’s seclusion meant there were no reporters, no people to call her motion of friendship a scandal. She was just taking care of Tony’s house and his bots; at least, that was what she told herself. Perhaps it was scandalous of her, encroaching on Tony’s home and sacred sanctuary, but someone needed to keep the place in shape for Tony’s return. Sure, JARVIS could probably do it to an extent, but he couldn’t do everything. Things like the smoothie incident proved that the AI couldn’t truly control everything about the house, and that was okay — Pepper was there to handle the rest. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for all of your support with the series! I'm hoping to write at least a few more parts to it, for I feel like there truly were a lot of things that could have happened while Tony was gone. The world doesn't revolve around him, after all (although Pepper's kinda does), so it's interesting to see what could have happened elsewhere in the world while he was in an Afghan cave with Yinsen. 
> 
> Comments are always appreciated, and kudos/bookmarks are fantastic as well! Thank you for reading and enjoying!


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